Making The Time 2.0

By Jay Stringer

Something we've talked about a number of times on DSD is making the time. Dave has talked about making the time to write, the tough-love that if you want to be a writer you have to get down and do it. There have been day-in-the-life diaries on here that show how some of us make that time.

I've talked about something equally important; finding the time to read. It's easy -too easy- to fall into the excuse of, "if only i had the time to read." I seem to get in trouble one way or another when I bring that up, but it is a trap. Find the time. Doesn't have to be a lot of time. Doesn't have to be a major sacrifice.

And it's not just us. This is one of the regular topics among writers and readers. It's probably frequent enough to make it onto Dave's list of writing cliche's, but then it's because it's also true.

As far as I know there isn't a machine yet that can fit more hours into a day. There's still no magic button that stretches things out or freezes everything around us so that we can chill out and read, or stress and write.

If you're anything like me, time is an evil thing. An old work colleague once came up with the phrase 'job creep,' which was his phrase for all the extra jobs that crop up during the working day. You get to work in the morning with a list of about 637 things to do, and by lunch time the list has swelled to 742, even after you'd started clearing it.

Writing can be like that, sometimes. It takes a whole lot of work just to stand still. You might start the morning with a work count of 20k, and then after four hours and much typing you have a word count of 19k. They are better words, it's not time wasted, but to any outsider you would seem to be standing still at best.

I adapt my colleagues old phrase to life creep. You start the week with a million things to do, and the list just keeps getting bigger. Some of them are chores, they are done out of duty. Some are done out of love or respect or friendship, and you don't begrudge them, but you also wouldn't begrudge a little break every now and then.

And on top of the day job, the night job, the washing, the ironing, the cooking, the shopping, the kids, the husband, the wife, the travelling, the stressing and the many buckets of coffee, you also have to fit life. You have to find time to unwind, to watch a movie or read a book. To dress up as a Klingon and re-enact battles that won't happen for several centuries. Then you have to find time to write, and you secretly start to begrudge the people at work who lead "simpler" lives; those who go to work, then go home, and don't spend all their spare time having to cram in all these other things. Their lives aren't simple either, but that doesn't really interfere with that bit of you that wants to hold a grudge against somebody.

And being a writer or a reader, the person you most hold a grudge against is yourself. If you were better as a writer, then you would have more time. If you were better as a reader you wouldn't be needing to make time. If you didn't just flat out suck, then chapter 22 wouldn't sag under the weight of its own disappointment.

And to make matters worse, you get some limey guy preaching at you from a website, busting you to make more time. Screw him, huh?

Making the time has always been pretty straight-forward for me. I like to read books and comics, I need to write, and I like to watch movies and TV shows. Added in to all of this is a full time job that often takes us 6 days a week. I've always taken the -to me- logical step of cutting out the one optional thing from my day. Sleep.

I'd work a full day, then come home and be normal for a while, or go shopping, or get some exercise or be sociable, then I would read for awhile, write as much as I could, watch a few episodes of THE WIRE (or whatever box set I was working through) do a bazillion emails and then slip into bed in time to get two or three hours sleep before doing it all over again.

I've hit a point now where that needs to stop. My body, and more importantly my brain, at 30 has decided that it wants to sleep like a normal person. The people at my day job would rather I turn up in a state approaching alive and my body is a fair way off 'in shape' simply because of the way I stretch myself. I'm also noticing that my writing is starting to suffer for the first time from my brain needing more sleep.

So i'm here to ask a question rather than preach at you. I've told you how I do it. I find a way to stretch the day out for as long as I can. I reckon there's probably a number of you do the same. But for the rest of you, you crazy people who manage to sleep and still make the time, how the hell do you do it?

Making The Time and Young Junius

By Jay Stringer

A two part blog today, just to keep you on your toes. Hoo Ha.

(I don’t know what Hoo Ha means, but lets just roll with it, okay?)

1.Writers make the time.

That’s what we’ve said on this blog more than once. It’s a little bit of tough love that needs to be dished out. If you want to be a writer, you’ll find the time. And while other people complain that they would be writers “if only they had the time,” you’ll be busy writing.

It’s simple. Very simple. But that doesn’t make it easy. Usually it comes down to sacrifices. There are only 24 hours in a day –until mad scientist Russel D McLean perfects that machine of his- and a few things have to fall by the wayside.

It’s different for everybody. Some people, either through profession or by supportive family, are able to write full time. I envy these people, but I don’t doubt for a minute that they have to let things fall too. There’s still only 24 hours in a day for them. Me? I write AND work full time, as do most people these days I suspect.

Sometimes it might be that you have to lose touch with TV, or sports. It might mean not getting to spend evenings sleeping next to your partner, or maybe not seeing as much of your kids as you’d like. Or staying in at night at the weekends.

Whatever it is, we all have them, these little choices that add up to enough time to get the writing done.

I just wanted to take a minute or so to talk about one of the things I miss the most. In order to fit on most of the things I love doing, and the people I love to be with, I’ve noticed that one thing gets left behind more than anything else. And boy, do I miss it.

READING.

I love reading. Hell, if you’re a writer, chances are good that you’re a reader too, right? Growing up I managed to find a way to obsess over pretty much everything. My family never ceased to be amazed just how much I could throw myself into things; comic books, novels, television, films and music. I became one of those walking encyclopaedias of useless information. I couldn’t tell you what trigonometry was, but I could tell you what year Batman first appeared or how many goals Steve Bull scored in the 1988-89 season.

The only thing that I’ve always seemed immune to was gaming. I’ve owned game systems, from the old Amstrad CPC-464, to a Sega Master System and Mega Drive. Hell, I even owned a Playstation (just don’t ask me to remember which one.) But for some reason, I never really connected with it all. And as the games have become more involved, more immersive and more epic, I’ve become less and less interested. And it’s not snobbery. I don’t look down on them, I’m happy to watch my friends playing and having a good time. It just doesn’t engage me. (Well, aside from the legend of Stringer VS. Football Manger, but that’s a different thing.)

And I’ve been thinking about this because, all around me friends and work colleagues spend their free time playing games and talking about what they’ve unlocked and what level they’re on. Hell, I know work colleagues go home from a day at work and spend the night talking to each other in this cyber world whilst shooting goblins or German soldiers or something. And for me, I’ve realised, by “gaming” has always been “reading.” That’s what I do. I’ll go home from work, pick up a comic or a book, and drift off into another place.

Except that right now I don’t.

I have many interesting things underway, so this isn’t me moaning and claiming that my life is insufferable. I’ve got two novels under my belt, I’m about to start a third. I co-present a pod cast, I do this weekly blog and I have two secret projects that you’ll be hearing more about soon. I’m not lacking for things to enjoy and sink my teeth into.

At the same time, I have a book that I’m really enjoying, that I cant get past halfway through because I can’t give it the time it needs. I have an unread pile of books that’s threatening to take over my bookshelves, and I’ve stopped buying monthly comics because I don’t have the time to keep up to date on them. I picked up the first two volumes of the new STARMAN omnibus last year. It was an important comic at an important time for me, and DC are now reissuing the whole series in beautiful hardbacks. They’ve sat on my shelf unopened.

Late last year I injured my back and took a week’s holiday from the day job. I spent the week taking long walks and then laying on my back, reading. I got through whole books in a day, and had nothing to do but start on the next one. I’m already starting to think that I need to book some time off both the day job and the night job again this year to do the same, just spend some quality time with my stack of books. And maybe those STARMAN hardbacks….

So how about you guys? Lets all pull up a chair and have a rant. What is it that you most miss?

2. You need some YOUNG JUNIUS in your life.

You guys know Seth Harwood, right? Of course you do. Everywhere I turn on the net, I find that Seth’s been there first. Been there, done that, and recorded the podcast.

The fella is a real example to the rest of us. I mean, he makes me look fat and lazy. Well, okay, that’s not hard. But imagine for a second that it was, right? The point is, he’s the guy who gets out there and does the hard work that many of us don’t. And he backs it up with great writing.

(It’s actually the other way around; he backs up his great writing with hard work)

Seth’s new book, YOUNG JUNIUS, will be released in a special edition format in October, but the pre-orders start this Wednesday. CINCO DE JUNIUS. It’s going to be a gorgeous looking thing, a hardback with an embossed and a good old-fashioned cloth binding. Remember when hardbacks used to be referred to as cloth? Hells yeah. Seth and Tyrus are teaming up to try something new, to release a special edition of a book in advance of the regular edition. And you know, if you pre-order it you can also get Seth to write you a personal message. Anything you want, he’ll do it. If you want him to write, “Jay Stringer is awesome,” he will.

I’m just saying.

Head on over to Seth’s site from noon tomorrow and pre-order YOUNG JUNIUS. Hell, if you put in the promo code DAMAGE you’ll get 3.00 off the cover price. You see what we did? We pointed you in the direction of a great book and then told you how to get some money off it.